The aerobar-mounted rotational torque surge brake is designed to meet a niche braking need for cyclists, particularly those involved in bicycle racing, including triathletes. Triathlons have grown in popularity over the past five to ten years. Triathlons are different than traditional road biking racing. In road racing, drafting in a pack of cyclists is an accepted, if not celebrated practice. Road cyclists practice drafting techniques as they train, taking turns in the lead position “pulling,” followed by others riding as close to the cyclists in front of them as possible to get the best possible draft. Conversely, drafting in a triathlon is a disqualifiable offense. Triathletes must blaze their own path through the wind without the assistance of other riders giving them an aerodynamic “pull,” As a result, the effect of wind resistance is amplified for the triathlete. The aerobar is a useful tool for the reduction of wind resistance, as it allows the rider to get into a more compact and tucked aerodynamic position.
Aerobars can be found on time trial racing road bicycles or triathlon bicycles. Aerobars allow riders to get into a tucked aero position, thereby increasing their aerodynamics and speed. However, the aerobar takes the rider's hands away from the hand brakes conventionally mounted on the outer portion of the handle bars. As a result, in order to apply the brakes, the rider has to lift out of the aero position and move his or her hands to the brakes while continuing to maintain balance and concentrate on the road ahead. This makes it extremely dangerous for cyclists with aero bars to train or ride in an aerodynamic, single file line with conventional road bicycles.
While gear shifters and conventional lever operated brakes have been mounted on the end of aero bars for a number years, the idea of a torsional surge brake attached to aero bars is unique. The design of the current invention is novel in that the cyclist applies rotational torque (i.e. forearm supination), which pulls the brake cable in the axial direction. Much like turning a screwdriver, this motion is very natural when in the tucked aero position. As a result, this design allows riders faster reaction time to either modestly scrub speed or brake the bicycle. The combination of the brake's location, its unique activation motion, and the possibility for custom hand grips, brings substantial added value to the field in terms of rider stability and control.
With the rider in the aero position and the rider's hand remaining on the aerobar rotational torque surge brake handle at all times, the rider has the opportunity for increased control of the degree of braking, allowing him or her to merely scrub speed or alternatively, to stop the bicycle rapidly as conditions require at any time, and without any delay to reposition the hand or fingers. The braking action is completed by twisting the brake handle radially relative to the aerobar between 5 and 30 degrees, which in turn retracts the brake cable connected to the brake calipers proportionately. Because of the natural supination motion required for activation of the aerobar torque surge brake, the braking motion is not impacted by forward or backward momentum of the rider's body, which could affect the rider's braking time and control of the bike.
Handlebar-mounted bicycle hand brakes are well known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,613 (“Blancas”) discloses a rotation actuated internal lever braking system for bicycles, utilizing a handlebar-mounted grip. The Blancas specification recites that conventional lever-operated bicycle handlebar brakes require the operator to shift hand position such that the rider virtually relinquishes his or her grip on the handlebars, thereby reducing the rider's control of the bicycle during braking.
Blancas purports to solve this problem by providing a system operated by manual rotation of the handle bar grip assemblies without any change in the rider's firm, controlling grasp on conventionally oriented handle bars. A cable pulling lever and a grip assembly are each secured to one of the handle bars of the bicycle, the lever pivotally upon and the grip rotationally about the handle bar. The lever and grip assembly are mechanically connected so that uni-directional rotary motion of the hand grip operates the lever to translate an end of a flexible cable connecting the lever with a wheel braking device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,674 (“Piatt”) discloses a handle bar braking system comprising a conventional cable operated, pull braking system combined with a pair of bi-directional, rotatable grip subassemblies that provide braking action without a change in the rider's grip on the conventionally oriented handlebars. Braking action is activated by the rider through either a clockwise or counter-clockwise rotation about the axis of the handle bars, which provides riders with an alternative method of braking control.
Both Blancas and Piatt disclose a hand brake mechanism mounted perpendicularly relative to the direction of travel, which requires the rider to engage in a forward or rearward rotational motion of the hands that is parallel to the direction of travel of the bicycle. This results in a small forward or rearward shift in rider momentum that could significantly impact the degree of the rider's braking control in racing situations.
Aerobars are also well known in the art, and provide commonly understood advantages for racing bicycles, as they allow the rider to improve aerodynamics and increase speed by gripping the handlebar-mounted aerobar and assuming and maintaining a forward aero position. U.S. Pat. No. 7,698,967 (“Ording”), for example, discloses bicycle handlebars with removable and adjustable aerobar(s).
Ording recites a handle bar assembly having an axis generally perpendicular to the direction of travel of the bicycle, and removable, adjustable aerobars oriented in a direction generally parallel to the direction of travel of the bicycle. The use of lever operated brakes and brake cable splitting devices to install braking levers in multiple locations on bike handle bars is also known in the field. Use of a splitter allows a single bicycle brake assembly to be operated by multiple levers, one of which may be mounted to the end of an aerobar assembly.
Neither Blancas, Piatt, nor Ording adequately addresses the unique needs for an ergonomically designed braking system that does not sacrifice the aerodynamic and speed advantages provided by the use of aerobars in the racing environment. Unlike Blancas, Piatt, or Ording, the present invention provides a braking mechanism designed to give the fastest braking reaction times, while still allowing the rider to reduce speed or stop in a controlled manner without the loss of stability and control associated with a required change in hand or finger position. The present invention describes an alternative and novel braking system that can be mounted to a variety of commercially available aerobars. The invention allows the rider in the aero position to reduce speed through a natural ergonomic supination of the forearm without a change in hand or finger position, in this way eliminating the impact of unwanted forward or backward momentum of the rider's body along the axis of travel of the bicycle, and consequently increasing the rider's control of the bicycle whilebraking.
The present invention is also readily distinguishable from the use of lever operated brakes on commercially available aerobars. The invention provides a novel alternative which is an aerodynamic and ergonomic improvement as compared to lever brakes. With use of the rotational torque surge brake, the rider's reaction time is reduced, thereby improving braking control, relative to aerobar mounted lever brakes, which require the rider to move the hands or fingers from the full aero position. The natural, ergonomic motion of the brake handle grip assembly also improves rider stability during critical racing maneuvers, as compared to lever operated brakes.